Stay Strong, Little One
by jbhyperandweird
Summary: The group (Kiba, Hige, Tsume, and Toboe) come across a city where a pack fight took place. There is one survivor, a little pup named Michi, who wishes to tag along. But will she just get in the way? PG-13 just incase
1. Evening In the City, the Scent of Blood

Dislcaimer: I do not own Wolf's rain...don't remind me. XD but I DO own little Michi, so no touchy. Or you shall feel the wrath of my disgrunted wallabees.  
  
'Thoughts'  
  
"Speaking"  
  
Evening in the City, the Scent of Blood  
  
The streets where dimly lit from the light that escaped the houses and stores. Every few minutes a car would roll by, causing puddles to splash onto the cracked sidewalks. For a large city such as this one, not many people were out that night.  
  
Toboe felt insecure about the lack of humans around. He walked behind Tsume with tense shoulders. "Why do you suppose there aren't a lot of people out...?"  
  
Hige shrugged, hands resting behind his head. "Ah-I dunno..." His lips curled into a smirk. "Maybe it's full of killers, and the humans stay indoors for their own protection."  
  
Tsume rolled his eyes at the behavior of the two. "Cut the crap, Hige. This city is not full of killers. It's late at night, they're probably all in bed!" Hige shot a glare at Tsume. He always ruined the fun.   
  
Toboe gave a sigh of relief. He felt like he could trust Tsume, almost like a father. Hige, on the other hand, always picked on him. Even though Toboe knew he couldn't be trusted, he believed what he said most of the time anyway.  
  
Kiba was meanwhile concentrating on where they were going. This city seemed to give him a strange feeling. An unusual stench lingered in the air ever since they got there. And he surely wasn't going to ignore it and put everyone in danger.   
  
"Hey, can we stop for food now?" Hige whined as he caught up with Kiba in the front.   
  
"We don't have any money. Maybe theres a forest outside the city. We can catch something there." Kiba gave a straight forward answer, and Hige gave a dissapointed look and slowed down to the others.   
  
Toboe also felt hungry, but didn't talk about it. He didn't want to be a burden anymore, so he didn't bother them when it wasn't really important. 'I can wait...like Kiba said, we'll catch something when we're out of here...'  
  
Hige's hands fell back to his sides as he stopped in his tracks. He tilted his head towards the sky, smelling something. "...Hey, do you guys smell that? Smells like fresh meat..."  
  
"Do you have a one track mind, or what?" Tsume growled at Hige, before Kiba stepped between the two.   
  
"No, he's right...something does smell like meat..." Everyone fell silent and sniffed the air. Kiba's eyebrows furrowed, trying to piece together all of the scents to figure out what it was. Once his mind registered the smell, his eyes widened and he turned to the others. "...And blood."  
  
They all began running towards the scent, curious of what the blood could be coming from. They weren't running for long, before they came across an alleyway that wreaked with the smell. They turned into it, and found that the alleyway was very long, before it turned to the left. When they got to the corner of it, Hige had to cover his nose.   
  
"Oh man, the stench is so heavy..." He stumbled as he continued to run, his lungs starting hurt.   
  
Kiba was ignoring whatever complaints the others had, determined to find the source of the blood. He had figured out a while ago that it wasn't just any blood. It was wolf blood.   
  
A dead wolf body suddenly flew at Tsume, him dodging it. "What the hell?!" They got closer, and saw two eyes glowing through the shadows. They could hear the heavy breathing. The two eyes glared at them all, until the body collapsed, and the panting ceased.   
  
"W-what happened?!" Fear was dripping from every word Toboe spoke, as he looked around in shock. There were dead bodies everywhere. Elders, adult, even pups. All seemed to be dead.   
  
Kiba's eyes narrowed as he kneeled down to the wolf that had recently fallen. "A pack fight..." He placed his hand on the wolf, looked closer, and discovered that it was only a little older than Toboe. He then glanced back to the others. "Check the bodies. Make sure none of them are alive."  
  
Hige and Toboe nodded and began searching, while Tsume just crossed his arms. "And what if there is a survivor? We already have trouble finding enough food for ourselves!"  
  
Kiba glared and stood up, facing Tsume. "We have no choice but to help them! They're our kind, and I'm not going to leave them out here to die like this."  
  
They both exchanged glares until Hige interrupted them.   
  
He winced as he flipped over the bodies. "I-...I came across the pups..." Lying infront of him were five small wolves, all huddled together, looking as if they were trying to comfort eachother before they died. This caught Toboe's attention, and he walked over, stepping over bodies on the way.   
  
"They-They're younger than me..." Toboe touched one of the pups, and felt no warmth at all. A chill ran down his spin, making him shiver.   
  
"They're a lot younger than you." Hige observed, as he went through them all. Kiba and Tsume stopped their arguing and walked over, watching Hige grimace as he picked them up. He looked into the bloodied face of one. "This one is the smallest...it's a little female, too."  
  
"I guess she's dead too, huh...?" Toboe's eyes were full of sadness, feeling the pain of the small pups.   
  
Hige placed her back down on the ground. "Yeah..." He stood up, and looked at Kiba. "Doesn't look like there are any survivors..."  
  
Tsume growled and turned around. "Good. We don't need anyone else coming with us." Kiba shot another glare at Tsume, tired of his attitude.   
  
A small whimper instantly broke the silence that was between them. 


	2. A Survivor

Disclaimer: I hate disclaimers . ::sigh:: I don't own Wolf's Rain. But when I grow up and rule the world with my little wolfy minions, I will . Oh, and I do own Michi. So you can't take her.  
  
'Thoughts'  
  
"Speaking"   
  
A Survivor  
  
The whimper was so light, that it sounded just like the wind when it whistles as it weaves through trees. It caught all of their attention, them holding their breath as they waited for another one. But it didn't come. Silence was the only thing that surrounded them.  
  
"Which one did that come from?" Toboe finally spoke up.   
  
Hige was shocked. "I-I don't know..." He lifted all of them up, checking them again for any sign of life. He picked up the big one. Nothing. Then the one in the worst condition. Once again, nothing. The third one he picked up was the female runt. He held it's snout gently to his cheek, and felt slight warmth escape it's nostrils. "It was this one!" He lifted it up to the others, and Kiba gently held it in his arms.  
  
Toboe watched as Kiba zipped up his jacket half way, and very carefully placed the little pup inside.   
  
"Is she coming with us...?" Toboe couldn't stop looking at the little thing, as her head was popping out of the jacket.   
  
"We'll atleast help her until she's well. After she's healed, then we'll decide what to do with her." Kiba put a reinforcing hand on her side, making sure she wasn't bending in any uncomfortable position.   
  
"You're joking, right? Now we'll DEFINATELY be slowed down!" Tsume punched the wall beside him, cracking open his knuckles a bit.  
  
"Come on, Tsume, have a heart!" Hige shouted.  
  
"Don't be stupid! Do you know how much food she'll need? We'll be hunting every day!"  
  
"I never said she would be a permanent member...We'll just take care of her for a while." Everyone looked back down at the small pup in Kiba's jacket.   
  
Tsume's eyes narrowed as he stubbornly turned away. "Hmpf. Fine. But don't expect me to pay any attention to her."  
  
Toboe grinned, forgetting that they were surrounded by all of those dead wolves for a moment. "Yes! Kiba, can I hold her?"  
  
"You would probably drop her, ya little runt..." Hige gave Toboe a quick noogie, messing up the hair on his head.   
  
"I think I should hold her until we get out of the city..." Kiba stated as he began to leave. Toboe looked from Kiba, to the pile of dead wolves.   
  
"Shouldn't we do something with them?" He pointed back to them.   
  
"They're dead. There's nothing we can do." Kiba said without looking back. Toboe looked over to Hige, but he only shrugged and caught up with Kiba.   
  
Toboe kept looking back, feeling that there was something they could do. Like at least bury them in the woods or something. After the others were far ahead, he snapped out of it, and ran after them. "Hey guys, wait up!" 


	3. The One they Call Michi

Disclaimer: .... ::growl maul:: I don't own Wolf's Rain. But if I did, I would laugh at everyone, bwahaha. XD  
  
'Thoughts'  
  
"Speaking"  
  
The One they Call Michi  
  
The little pups nose was cuddled up in Toboe's chest as he sat up against a tree. The sun was beginning to rise, and Toboe's eyelids were getting heavy. He gladly asked for the responsibility to watch over her the rest of the night, but now he wasn't sure if he should have.  
  
He found himself dozing of every now and then, but instantly snapped out of it once he realized what he was doing. He looked over to the other three. Hige was snoring a bit, and Tsume was lying with his back turned to the others. Kiba was leaning up against a tree, lightly sleeping. Just looking at them all wasn't helping, but before he realized what was happening, his eyes were closed and he was fast asleep.  
  
It was a light sleep, like Kiba's. Every sound he could hear, only it would be twisted into what was happening in his dreams.   
  
He was dreaming of Granny, and the day he killed her. Right when he dreamt himself pouncing on her, instead of suffocating, she was screaming. It was a short shriek, one that sounded as if it belonged to a child. Thats when it hit him.   
  
His eyes snapped open, and he looked down. The pup had rolled out of his arms, and onto the ground. A few of it's wounds were opened, and that was one of the reasons she was beginning to cry.   
  
Her howls woke everyone up.   
  
"God damn, shut that thing up..." Tsume grumbled through his teeth. Toboe quickly scrambled over to pick her up. He didn't want to get in trouble with Kiba because he wasn't watching her. AND he wanted her to stop crying.   
  
He was going to try to comfort her, but the second he picked her up, she stopped.   
  
She looked up at Toboe with her large brown eyes. Her vision was blurred from fatigue. "...B-Brother Rokuro...?" She stared at him for a second, before blinking. Thats when her vision began to clear, and she noticed that the wolf that was holding her wasn't her brother.   
  
She shrieked again, and struggled to get out of hands. "No! Lemme go!" She fought him, and finally dropped to the ground. She let out a little 'Oof!', before forcing herself to stand up. She looked behind her at Toboe as she tried to run away, but was soon lifted up by another.   
  
"Now where do you think your going, little one?" Hige held her up to his face, not noticing that it was hurting her.   
  
She howled and yipped, before Hige registered what was wrong. "Oops..." Toboe snatched her back, and tried to hold her gently in his arms to comfort her.  
  
"Hey, what'dya do that for?" Hige reached for her again, but Toboe turned away.   
  
"You don't hold her right!"  
  
"I think I know how to hold a kid, kid! Now, lemme hold her!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Your the one making her cry!"  
  
"You broke open one of her wounds!"  
  
"No I didn't! She did that herself when she fell out of YOUR lap!"  
  
"You CAN'T hold her!"  
  
"I'll hold her if I wanna hold--"  
  
"Both of you be quiet!" Kiba shouted to make the two shutup. Everything was silent for a moment, except for the little girls howls.   
  
Toboe looked down and noticed his shirt had blood all over it. He let out a gasp, and looked up at Kiba. "Kiba, she's bleeding really bad, what do I do?!" The panicking Toboe handed her over to Kiba. He sat her on the ground, and made sure she didn't try to run as he took off his jacket. He noticed a huge gash just below her neck, on her shoulder blade. He took the jacket, and pressed it down on the wound firmly.   
  
"Ow...S-stop it...that hurts!" She whimpered as he put force on it.  
  
"Well I'm not going to just let you bleed to death...now hold still..." She was panting, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth. She began to get dizzy, everything she saw was doubling. "I-I...can't see right..." She began whining again, as Kiba lifted a bit of weight off of the wound, while still pressing down.   
  
"Calm down...the bleeding is slowing...So...what's your name?"  
  
The pup answered inbewteen pants. "My pack...they call me Michi...Where's mommy?"  
  
Tsume replied before any of the others could. "Your mother's dead. Your father is too. All your pack is dead." 


	4. Michi's Cry

Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain for pete's sake! XD  
  
'Thoughts'  
  
"Speaking"  
  
Michi's Cry  
  
"W-What...?" Michi looked up at Kiba, her eyes pleading for him to tell her it wasn't true. But all Kiba did was nod. "What happened?! Your lying!" She nipped at Kiba's wrist, trying to make him let her go.  
  
"Stop that..." Kiba said calmly as he kept his hands on her.   
  
"No!" She continued to bite at him. "You kidnapped me, didn't you?! Why? What do you want from me?!" She squirmed, only hurting herself more.   
  
"Geez, calm down." Hige said, trying to ignore her crying. "And...Tsume's right..." Hige looked up at the sky, the ground, anywhere but her eyes.   
  
Michi suddenly silenced. She looked over at Toboe, hoping that someone would tell her the truth. Tell her where her mommy really was.   
  
Toboe was looking into her eyes, feeling as if he were going to tear up if he continued gazing for a second more. He turned away, hiding his face.   
  
Michi stared straight at him, trying to get through her head what was going on. Her mommy and daddy couldn't be they?  
  
She let out a high pitched, distressed howl, crying for them.

A/N: I'm sorry that was so short x.X;;; I just thought it would be a good place to end.


	5. Big Brother Toboe

Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain. But little Michi is mine. ::huggles her::

A/N: thanks for all the nice reviews! I'm glad you all like it!

'Thoughts'

"Speaking"

Big Brother Toboe

Michi continued to howl. "Mommy! Daddy! Where are you?!" Michi screamed, even though her howls were barely escaping the forest.

Kiba, having no idea of what else to do, began to stroke her head gently. Without warning, Michi crawled up in his lap, and dug her face in his shirt. Kiba was slightly shocked at her behavior, but continued to pet her.

Her heavy panting slowed down to a calm breathing. Toboe kneeled down next to Kiba, and watched her. He couldn't help but feel sympathy for her. His hand slowly reached over, getting ready to also pat her head, when she did something no one expected.

She put on the illusion that she was human, revealing what she looked like.

She had dark auburn hair that was held in two small pig tails, with a few stray hairs draping infront of her face. Her cuffed jeans were too big, just like her sweatshirt, and had holes in it, letting her bare knees peek through. Her eyes were huge, having the dark brown color that her wolf form also had.

She tugged at Kiba's shirt, soaking it with her silent tears. He stood up, and held her against his chest gently.

"Hey Kiba, is she gonna be alright?" Toboe asked with concern, although acting as if she wasn't there.

"Don't worry, Toboe. She'll be fine. She's just a little stressed out right now." Kiba looked down at his wet shirt, and then to Michi, who was cuddled into a little ball and sucking on her right thumb.

"Well...can I hold her? To make up for falling asleep while I should've been watching her..." Toboe was looking down at the little one.

As Kiba took in a breath to speak, Hige mumbled. "I thought we already established that you couldn't hold her right..."

"Shutup, Hige, I can too hold her right!" Toboe shouted in a defensive way. Michi, her face still in Kiba's shirt, popped her thumb out of her mouth and looked up at them.

"I want the Toobooi to hold me..." (she pronounced it like 'too-boo-ee') She reached out a small hand to him.

Toboe grinned an 'I won! Haha' grin at Hige, and corrected her while smiling. "It's Toboe..." He gently took her out of Kiba's arms, and propped her against his chest.

"Can I ride on your shoulders...?" She mumbled into his shirt.

Toboe looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "Uhh...yeah, I guess so..." She giggled and smiled, and walked up ontop of his shoulders, placing one leg on each. "Gimme your hand!" She reached down, and Toboe lifted his hands for her to grab. She latched onto his finger, until he switched position and gently grabbed onto her wrists.

She began bouncing up and down on his shoulders, all of her troubles seeming to wash away in the giggles. Toboe laughed with her, until Kiba interrupted them.

"We better get moving Toboe. The sun's come up." Kiba said before turning and starting to walk through the trees.

"Yeah, so get that little brat to calm down, and start moving." Tsume had his hands placed on his hips, and walked alongside Kiba, Hige shortly following.

Once Tsume was turned around, Michi stuck her tongue out at him, and giggled again. Toboe let out a nervous chuckle before starting to walk. "Come on, let's go..." Toboe caught up with the guys, and Michi snuggled up to his neck.

She let out a little sigh, able to tell that this one was going to care most about her. "Can I call you Brother Toboe...?" She whispered to him, as she latched her short arms around his neck, beginning to fall asleep.

Toboe turned a little red at the question. "Oh, um...yeah, of course you can..." A little smile crept onto his face as he looked beside him to see her little head on his shoulder.

"Okay, Brother Toboe..." With that, she fell asleep.


	6. Just a Little Hungry

Disclaimer: I no own Wolf's Rain. It kicks ass too much for me to own it. ;p

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! ;; Oh, and the characters will be very out of character in this chapter. This chapter is mainly humor.

'Thoughts'

"Speaking"

Just a Little Hungry

The trees were blocking the view of the moon. This would be the second night Michi was staying with them.

"I want food." Michi stood up infront of Kiba, her stubby arms on her hips. Kiba opened an eye to look at her, and let out a sigh.

"There's no prey in these parts of the woods. We'll go hunting once the sun rises." With that, Kiba closed his eyes again, trying to fall asleep.

Michi's cheeks turned a pink color as she got angry. She crawled up in his lap, and grabbed his face. She started to pull his lips here and there, attempting at getting his attention.

"You said that yesterday. I want food now." She wasn't going to give up. Even if it meant annoying the heck out of him.

Kiba groaned, and opened his eyes again. "I told you. We'll go hunting tomorrow. Now, go to sleep." Kiba picked her up from his lap, laid her down on the ground, and closed her eyes by lightly pulling them down with his fingers.

She squished her face together, thinking. "Fine. I'll just stay up all night 'til morning!" She sat up, leaning back on her arms. She stretched out her legs, and began clicking her sneakers together while blowing spit bubbles. "La, La, Loo!...Hee Hee!" She began singing and giggling at her bubbles. Kiba was about to scream.

"OKAY! Fine. I'll go and get you a bird or something..." Kiba said in a hoarse whisper, hoping the others wouldn't wake up. He stood up, about to walk off and get something, when Michi ran up to him and tugged on his pant leg.

"I don't want a birdy." She said plainly.

"If I find a bird, thats what your having." Kiba said, and began to head for the thicker woods.

"I said: I don't want a birdy." She placed her hands on her hips again.

"Well, what DO you want?" Kiba was about to crack.

"I want a beef. I like the beefs." She flashed him a cute smile.

Kiba was speaking through his teeth. "Michi, you can't find cows in a forest. Cows don't live in the forest, they live with humans."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yes, they do."

"No they don't. Daddy used to get me beefs."

"Well, 'daddy' and you lived in the city. He probably got it from a butcher. We, however, are in the forest. There are NO COWS IN THE FOREST."

"Fine. Then I want a bunny."

Kiba felt like hitting his head against the nearest tree. "Michi, rabbits are not out this time of the year. Now, if you don't be quiet, I'll get you a berry, and you'll be happy with that!"

"Why won't you get me a bunny?"

"I JUST TOLD YOU WHY I WON'T GET YOU A BUNNY!"

"...No you didn't."

"THAT'S IT!" Kiba stormed back off to where the others were, taking her along with him. He roughly laid her down ontop of Hige, who jumped a bit.

"THERE! EAT HIGE!" Kiba stomped his way back to where he was sleeping.

"...Who's eating me?" Hige looked around in confusion, and noticed that it was Michi who was lying ontop of him.

Michi growled at Kiba. "I will NOT eat Uncle Hige! I want a bunny!"

"Where's a bunny? What's going on?!" Hige looked over at Kiba, who was panting furiously.

"WILL ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?!" Tsume screamed at all of them. There was silence, then Michi crawled over to Toboe.

"Brother Toboe, will you get me a bunny?" She pulled at his hair a bit, before he stirred.

"Yeah...okay...later..." Toboe yawned and turned over. Michi let out a 'Yay!' and giggled, crawling into his arms, soon to fall asleep herself.

A/N: I might not be uploading for a while. Give you people time to review, you know . ::gets rotten fruit aimed at her:: o.o;; ::covers self::


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